Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
From a Dublin newspaper...
I'm not much of a political person, it's never been something that interests me. It probably has something to do with my parents lack of political interests...I don't know. Occasionally, something will catch my eye and I know deep down in my gut that it's just wrong. During a recent visit to Dublin, I came across a free newspaper called "Metro". There was a very small article by Con Doherty titled "IRA attacks worse than 9/11 says Nobel author". The title intriqued me, but the article itself left me in disbelief. Here is the article, in it's entirety.
"Nobel prize-winning British author Doris Lessing has called the September 11 attacks 'not that terrible' compared to the campaign of terror waged by the IRA.
Lessing, 88, who won the Nobel Prize for literature earlier this month, said the attacks, which led to George Bush's 'war on terror', were not as 'extraordinary' as some Americans think.
She told Spanish newspaper El Pais: 'September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.'
'Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think.'
'They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be,' she said of the Americans.
'Do you know what people forget? That the IRA attacked our government. It killed several people while a Conservative congress was being held and in which the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was (attending). People forget,' she said.
Nearly 3,000 people died and tens of thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Lessing, the author of The Golden Notebook, was praised very highly by the judges of the Nobel Prize for her 'scepticism, fire and visionary power'.
Okay, I don't think that any terrorist act is meant to be forgotten, but when it happens in your OWN country you tend to remember it more and relate to it more than one that happens far away in another country. What good does it do to make 9/11 seem less of a tradgedy than it is? There have been terrorist attacks before 9/11, such as Lockerbie, Scotland. I'm sure the pain is somewhat dulled in Lockerbie, as it has for the US attacks...but none of them will ever be forgotten.
Furthermore, there is a huge difference between an army of rebellious Irishmen running rampant over 30 years and a suicide attack by Islamic terrorists. Quite extraordinary in my opinion, but maybe that is because I am a proud American.
"Nobel prize-winning British author Doris Lessing has called the September 11 attacks 'not that terrible' compared to the campaign of terror waged by the IRA.
Lessing, 88, who won the Nobel Prize for literature earlier this month, said the attacks, which led to George Bush's 'war on terror', were not as 'extraordinary' as some Americans think.
She told Spanish newspaper El Pais: 'September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.'
'Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think.'
'They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be,' she said of the Americans.
'Do you know what people forget? That the IRA attacked our government. It killed several people while a Conservative congress was being held and in which the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was (attending). People forget,' she said.
Nearly 3,000 people died and tens of thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Lessing, the author of The Golden Notebook, was praised very highly by the judges of the Nobel Prize for her 'scepticism, fire and visionary power'.
Okay, I don't think that any terrorist act is meant to be forgotten, but when it happens in your OWN country you tend to remember it more and relate to it more than one that happens far away in another country. What good does it do to make 9/11 seem less of a tradgedy than it is? There have been terrorist attacks before 9/11, such as Lockerbie, Scotland. I'm sure the pain is somewhat dulled in Lockerbie, as it has for the US attacks...but none of them will ever be forgotten.
Furthermore, there is a huge difference between an army of rebellious Irishmen running rampant over 30 years and a suicide attack by Islamic terrorists. Quite extraordinary in my opinion, but maybe that is because I am a proud American.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Beautiful English Autumn
We've been having lots of fun with my brother here. I sometimes forget how important he is to me...at least with the busy schedule of trying to balance kids, family, school fun, cleaning, scrapping and keeping in touch with everyone. This has been a great visit for us, I love showing him around London and the English countryside. This past weekend we went into London and saw Spamalot!! It was great! And, we've had some beautiful weather while he has been here! We've done some hiking and got some great pictures of the English countryside!
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